A French model scout who spent years connecting Jeffrey Epstein with young women has become the latest person linked to the disgraced financier to die under circumstances now drawing attention far beyond France.
Daniel Siad, 69, was found dead in his home in Colombes, a suburb of Paris, on Monday, July 20, according to French authorities. A woman staying with him reportedly tried to perform CPR, but could not revive him. Prosecutors have opened an investigation and ordered a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.
On paper, it may look like a tragic but straightforward case. In the wider Jeffrey Epstein universe, however, even CPR-but-not-deadly death rarely stays ordinary for long.
Why Siad’s death is getting so much attention
Siad was not just a fashion industry insider. He was also closely connected to Jeffrey Epstein, and his name appears repeatedly in the Epstein files over the course of many years. That alone has made his death a magnet for speculation.
His death comes at a time when the Epstein case is again under scrutiny, with old questions about his network, his enablers and his own death in custody refusing to fade.
Epstein died in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The official finding was suicide, but the circumstances, including missed checks by guards and malfunctioning cameras, have long fed theories that his death was not simply a case of a high-profile prisoner taking his own life.
The long shadow of Jeffrey Epstein’s inner circle
Siad’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein appears to have been extensive. He reportedly sent Epstein photos of women and their measurements, arranged meetings, and received payments for expenses linked to scouting trips. In one email, he described the work in crude terms, comparing himself to a fisherman who sometimes catches fish and sometimes does not.
Jeffrey Epstein also appears to have used Siad to identify and introduce women, with messages asking, “Wht about new girls?” According to court material and reporting, Siad emphasised youth in his replies, once describing a woman as 26 but looking 18.
A former butler of Epstein’s told The Telegraph that Siad was “as important as Ghislaine Maxwell” in bringing women to Epstein in Paris.
Siad publicly denied knowledge of abuse. In a CNN interview shortly before his death, he said he trusted Epstein and believed him to be a professional person. But one alleged victim told the BBC that Siad had introduced her to Epstein in what she described as “a complete set-up”, calling him “essentially a professional trafficker”.
Questions around Siad himself
Siad was also facing his own legal exposure. Earlier this year, former Swedish model Ebba Karlsson accused him of rape and human trafficking, saying he scouted her in Stockholm in 1990 and later raped her in France.
Siad denied the allegations. His lawyer said he wanted to present his version of events in court, but the case did not reach that point before his death.
Karlsson told Agence France-Presse that the death was deeply frustrating because he had been close to arrest. Lawyers for Karlsson criticised the Paris prosecutor’s office for inaction, while prosecutors said the investigation had not produced enough evidence for an arrest.
A pattern of deaths around Jeffrey Epstein
Siad’s death is the latest in a line of people connected to Epstein who have died over the years, often in ways that have invited suspicion.
Among them:
Alfredo Rodriguez, a former Epstein butler, died in 2014 after being caught in an FBI sting trying to sell Epstein’s so-called little black book. He had reportedly feared Epstein would make him disappear.
Joe Recarey, the Palm Beach detective who led an early investigation into Epstein, died in 2018 after a brief illness. He had said he felt politically pressured to drop the case.
Thomas Bowers, a banker connected to Deutsche Bank’s dealings with Epstein, was found dead in 2019 in what was ruled a suicide.
Steve Bing, a Hollywood producer who moved in the same social circles as Epstein, died by suicide in 2020.
Efrain “Stone” Reyes, Epstein’s final cellmate, died in 2021 after reportedly contracting COVID-19. His departure from the cell the day before Epstein’s death helped intensify questions about what happened in jail.
Jean-Luc Brunel, the French modelling agent accused of procuring women for Epstein, was found hanged in his Paris prison cell in 2022.
Steven Hoffenberg, Epstein’s former mentor and business associate, was found dead in his Connecticut apartment in 2022.
Mark Middleton, a former aide to Bill Clinton who had facilitated Epstein’s access to the White House, was found dead in Arkansas in what investigators ruled a suicide, though the scene drew public scepticism.
Bill Richardson, the former New Mexico governor and U.N. ambassador, died in 2023. He had been named in civil allegations involving Epstein and Maxwell, though his spokesman denied wrongdoing.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, died in 2025. Her family later questioned the official explanation.
Why conspiracy theories keep growing
The Epstein case has become more than a criminal scandal. It has turned into a sprawling cultural and political mystery, with every new death, court filing and document release adding another knot to an already tangled web.
That is why Siad’s death has triggered such immediate attention. He was not a peripheral figure. He sat close to the machinery that helped Jeffrey Epstein move through the fashion world, and he was himself under investigation. When a person with that much proximity dies before answering questions in court, suspicion fills the vacuum.
Still, suspicion is not proof. French authorities have said an autopsy will determine the cause of death, and until that process is complete, the facts remain limited.
What is clear is that Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit continues to cast a long and unusually dark shadow. The names change, the locations change, but the questions have a stubborn habit of staying alive.
TL;DR
- Daniel Siad, a former modelling scout linked to Jeffrey Epstein, was found dead at his home in France.
- French prosecutors have opened an investigation and ordered a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.
- Siad had been under investigation over allegations of human trafficking, which he denied.
- Several other people connected to Epstein have died since 2019 from various reported causes, including illness, suicide, and natural causes.
- While these deaths have fuelled public speculation, authorities have not presented evidence of a coordinated effort linking them.